Lens marking devices



Aug. 27, 1957 H. M. POLLEY LENS MARKING DEVICES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJan. 31, 1955 R w L 0 N W M f N A Y B 2 2 H. t 8 AQ- MW Aug. 27, 1957PQLLEY 2,803,884

LENS MARKING DEVICES Filed Jan. 31, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 zm/awozeHERMAN A4- POLLEEI/ ATTOR EY United States Patent a ican fipticalCompany, Southbridge, Mass, :1 valuntary association of MassachusettsApplioationilanuary 31, 1955, Sean No. 485,023

3 Claims. (c1. 33-474 This inventionrelates to improvements in lensmarking devices and more particularly to a device for marking thecylindrical axis line, optical center and gauge points upon the surfacesof multifocal lens blanks, according to the prescriptive requirementsdesired of the finished lens, prior to'the finishing of said lensblanks.

In the manufacture of ophthalmic lenses or the like andparticularlylenses of the multifocal type wherein said lensesare usually comprisedof a relatively small reading or segment portion surrounded by adistance or major portion, it is customary to provide one surface of thelens blanks, from. which said ophthalmic lenses are manufactured, withsuitable reference markings or the like to be used in the finishing ofsuch lenses.

Suchmarkings are used for the purposes of locating the optical center ofthe major portion of said lens blanks relative to said segment portionsthereof, indicating the axial direction of a cylindrical surfacecurvature to be applied to the opposed side thereof, indicatingpositions at which to properly gauge the thicknesses of said lens blanksand for properly positioning the lens blanks to be cut to desired sizeand shape in a manner to be described in detail hereinafter.

One of the most eflicient devices for applying said dots or :axismarkings, in the past, embodied the use of yieldingly supported inkingpins which because of their construction and dimensional restrictionswere of "necessity sp'aced a considerable distance apart and caused theink dots tobe similarly spaced. In order to provide for sufficientaccuracy of positioning and alignment of said dots with-different lensfabrication devices they of necessity had to be formed relatively smallin size or diameter and this size restriction combined with the widespacingthereo'f resulted in considerable difliculty on the part of theoperators in being able to properly discern said dots particularly whenviewed through the blanks and at the usual working distance required.This not only caused eye strain and fatigue but was the source ofconsiderable error.

Many attempts have been made to overcome the above disadvantages such asby the use of an inked wire or a narrow strip of rubber or the like forproducing a continuous axis marking on the blanks. These procedures,however, encountered other difficulties. For example, when attempts weremade to form a continuousaxis marking on certain lenses, such aslenticular lenses or other lenses having irregular surface contours, thewires or narrow strips of rubber used in producing the axis markingwould tend to straddle or bridge the hollow areas and produce markingsonly on the high spots of the surface. This resulted in improper andundesirable axis markings and further introduced difiiculty insubsequent aligning operations.

It, therefore, is one of the primary objects of this invention toovercome all the above ditficulties through the provision ofsimple,eflicient and accurate means for applying theiabove markings withthe assurance that said markings will extendcthroughout the length ofthe axis 2,803,884 Patented Aug. 27, 1957 2 a line so as to form apositive and accurate indication of said axis line which is readilyperceivable and-which will afford maximum accuracy in arriving at theprescriptive characteristics desired of the finished lens.

Another object is to provide a device which is adapted to provide aclearly discernible axis line of the above character upon the surface ofa lens blank or the like regardless of the variations or irregularitiesin curvatures which might be encountered upon said surfaces of said lensblanks.

Another object is to provide a novel and simple means of yieldablyretaining a composite row of marking portions of a device of the abovecharacter so as to permit each of said marking portions to individuallycontact and deposit a supply of marking fluid upon each adjacent portionof a lens surface to be marked, whereby said yieldable retaining meanswill permit said composite row of marking portions to precisely conformto the con tour of a lens blank surface to be provided with saidmarkings thereby producing accurate and distinct reference markings soclosely related upon said lens blank surface as to produce the effect ofa continuous line.

Another object is to provide a marking device of the above charactercomprising a supporting member having aligned guideways therein andelongated marking members slidably positioned in surface-to-surfacerelation with each other in-said guideways, stop means at one end ofsaid marking members for restricting the longitudinal movement thereofin a direction outwardly from said supporting member and a resilientpressure pad carried by said supporting member having one surfacethereof in engagement with said inner ends of said marking members tocause said marking members to be. yieldably urged outwardly therefrom,means for applying a marking fluid to the opposed ends of said markingmembers and means for moving said supporting member and marking membersalong a path' substantially in line with the longitudinal dimension ofsaid marking members to engage a surface of a lens blank, when said lensblank is properly aligned within said path of movement, to deposit saidmarking fluid upon said lens blank surface for reference purposes to beused for the finishing of said lens blank.

Another object is to provide angularly adjustable marking means. forproviding reference markings of the above character upon a surface of alens blank or the like whereby a portion of said marking means isadapted to approach and engage the surface of said lens blank, to bemarked, along a path substantially normal to the general plane of saidlens surface so as to provideaccurate reference markings thereonregardless of variations in surface curvature or in thickness which maybe encountered in lens blanks of the characterdescribed above.

Another object. is to provide a device of the above character having adiametrically disposed row of. contiguously related marking memberswhich are adapted to be angularly adjusted and to alternately engage anink pad or the like and the finished surface of a semifinishedmultifocal lens blank which is suitably aligned to receive said markingmembers.

Another object is to provide a devieeof the above character which isrelatively simple in construction, economical to manufacture andefiicient in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe detailed description which. follows when taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view "of the device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational View of the device shownpartially-in section;

Fig. 3 'is a crosssectional view taken substantially on line 3--3 ofFig.1; l

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 6--6 of Fig.4; V

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of a multifocal lens blank havingreference markings provided thereon; and

Fig. 8 is an illustration generally similar to Fig. 7 with saidreference markings alternatively positioned thereon.

Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein like characters ofreference designate like parts throughout the several views, there isillustrated in Fig. 7 a typical example of a semifinished multicocallens blank 10 comprising a reading or segment portion 10a surrounded bya distance or major portion 181) which is provided with a diametricalrow of contiguously related dots 12 arranged to present an axis line 11thereon in accordance with the present invention. Said axis line 11 isprovided with a slight spacing each side of the centermost dot 12atherein to allow said centermost dot 12a to be more easily distinguishedfrom the remaining dots since said dot 12a is to represent the opticalcenter of the major portion ltlb of the finished lens.

In the manufacture of ophthalmic lenses of the above type it iscustomary to first provide one side of a lens blank with a finishedoptical surface thereon according to a prescribed formula or the likeand to thereafter provide said finished surface with reference markingsdesignating the desired positional relationship of the optical center ofthe major portion 10b with respect to the segment portion 10a and theaxis of a cylindrically curved surface to be provided upon the opposedsurface thereof according to other coordinated prescriptive requirementsdesired of the finished lens.

Two examples of many markings which might be applied to lens blanks ofthe above type are illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 wherein Fig. 7illustrates a cylindrical axis 2 while being positioned a predetermineddistance above the segment portion 10a.

Dots 13 are used to indicate points at which to gauge or check the lensthickness to determine prism effect in the lens blank and are positionedalong an axis normal to axis line 11 and at a radial distance from thecentral dot 12a equal to the radial distance from said dot 12a to theoutermost dots of said axis line 11 so as to provide four gauge pointsat equal radial distances from said central dot 12a.

It is to be pointed out that the reading or segment portions of the lensblanks may be of various different shapes and sizes and that thereference markings shown in Figs. 7 and 8 are used for illustrativepurposes only and that the positional relationship of said referencemarkings would vary according to the prescriptive requirements of thefinished lens.

The device embodying the invention comprises a lens marking mechanism 14mounted upon a supporting ring 15 which is attached by means of pins 16and scrws 17 to an outwardly extending bracket 17. The bracket 18 isprovided upon a head portion 19 of a lens aligning and marking device 20which has a lens suporting table 21, provided upon the forward uppersurface of a base 22, which is adapted to support a lens blank 23 or thelike thereon. Said head portion 19 of the lens aligning and markingdevice 20 is pivotally mounted upon the base 22 so as to permit themarking mechanism 14 to be swung into vertical alignment over the lensblank 23 to a position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Rotatably mounted within said supporting ring 15 there is provided amarking pin retaining member 24 having a cavity 25 formed thereinthrough which a diametrically disposed row of marking pins 26 extend anda pair of normally related marking pins 27 extend. A centrally locatedpin 23 also extends through said cavity.

Said marking pins 26, 27 and 28 are slidably retained in positionalalignment within the retaining member 24 by means of upper and lowerguide plates 29 and 30, respectively, secured to the upper and lowersides of said supporting member by means of screws or the like 31 asshown in Fig. 5.

The plates 29 and are each provided with a pair of rectangular slottedopenings 32 diametrically aligned thereacross to receive the markingpins 26, and three circular openings 33 aligned so as to be positionedalong an axis normal to the direction of said slotted openings 32. Theoutermost openings 33 are adapted to receive the marking pins 27 whereasthe centermost opening thereof, being centrally aligned along both thedirectional axes of slotted openings 32 and circular openings 33, isadapted to receive the marking pin 28 therein.

Marking pins 26 being rectangular in cross-sectional area, as best shownin Fig. 4, are positioned within the slotted openings 32 of plates 29and 30 with the sides thereof in intimate sliding relation with eachother so as to extend downwardly through said slotted openings 32. Eachpair of slotted openings 32, as shown best in Figs. 3 and 4, are soconstructed as to allow only a vertical movement of pins 26 thereinsince the composite cross-sectional area of each group of pins 26 issubstantially equal to the area of the slotted openings 32 as shown bestin Fig. 4.

In order to restrict the downward movement of pins 26, a relativelysmall opening 34 is provided through each of said pins 26 adjacent theupper ends thereof and a flexible retaining wire 35, Figs. 3 and 4, isextended through said openings 34 so as to overlie the slotted openings32 and engage the upper surface of plate 29 adjacent the opposed ends ofsaid openings when said pins 26 are in a position such as shown in Figs.3 and 4 and the centermost portion of wire 35 is provided with anelongated loop 35a extending between each group of pins 26 and inpartial encircling relation with the pin 28. The function of the abovearrangement will be described in detail hereinafter.

Marking pins 27 and marking pin 28 are formed circular in cross-sectionso as to conform to the shape of circular openings 33 also provided invertical aligned relation in plates 29 and 30 for purposes of slidablyguiding said pins 27 and 28 therein. The upper ends of said pins 27 and28 are provided with enlarged shouldered portions 36 which are adaptedto overlie openings 33 and engage the upper surface of plate 29 torestrict the downward movement thereof.

Since, for purposes to be described in detail hereinafter, it isessential that marking pins 26, 27 and marking pin 28 be permitted to beindividually moved in a vertical direction and that a slight downwardtension or force must be maintained upon said marking pins during saidvertical movement in order to allow each individual marking pin to beaccurately retained in its desired vertical position when in operation,a yieldable pressure pad 37, preferably formed of sponge rubber or thelike, is positioned over and in contact with the upper ends of saidmarking pins as shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

In order to retain said pressure pad 37 in aligned relation upon saidmarking pins and to provide the desired tension thereon, elongatedscrews or the like 38, Figs. 4 and 6, are positioned so as to extendvertically through plate 29 and pressure pad 37 and threadedly engage apressure plate '39 formed of a suitable metal or thelike. By properrotation fof screws 38, the distance between the pressure plate 39 andthe upper ends of the pins 28 may be varied thereby causingthe pressurepad to be compressed or allowed to expand-as desired whereby apredetermined downward tension or pressure can be applied to saidmarking pins.

During the individual verticalm'oveinent of marking pins 26, theflexible retaining wire is free toyconform to said movement and in orderto prevent the looped por- .t'ion 35a thereof from assuming a verticalposition between the upper surface of plate 29 andthe lower surface ofthe yieldable pressurepad 37, and which would interfere with theoperation of said pressure pad 37, said loop 35a isconstructed of alength greater than the maximum spacing which would beenc'ounteredbetween said plate 29 and lowersurface of pressurepad37 during normaloperation of the device. p

The lower ends of marking pins 26, 27 and28 are each provided with areduced shouldered portion having a conically pointed end thereon asshown in Figs. 2 and 3. Each of said pointed ends is jso con structed asto provide a means for transferring a restricted supply of marking fluidto the surface of a lensblank or the like so as to provide said lensblank with relatively small closely related reference markings of thecharacter shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

It. is to be particularly pointed out that since each group of markingpins 26 is constructed and assembled in the manner described above thatthe conically pointed ends thereon are aligned so as to providerelatively short spacings therebetwee'n for the purpose of providing acylindrical axis reference marking as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, which is amore positive indication of a straight line that would be the casewherein said marking pins were widely spaced relative to each other ashas been the practice heretofore, and it [is also to be noted that theretaining member 24, marki'ngpin's 26, 27, marking pin 28, plates 29 and3t), pressure pad 37 and pressure plate 39 form a complete assembledunit which is vertica'lly adjustable in 'a manner to be described asfollows:

Retaining member 24 is slidably mounted upon a rotatable upper carrier40 by means of guide pins 41 which are press fitted or otherwise securedthereto and extend upwardly through openings 42, Figs. 3 and 4,-providedin the carrier 40 which are adapted to provide an accurate, verticallyaligned-sliding fit with said 'pins 41.

Carrier 49 has formed thereon a reduced downwardly extending portion40a, Figs. 3, 5 and 6, which is adapted to fit within the supportingring 15 and said portion 40a is provided with an annular groove or thelike 40b adapted to receive a spring-loaded pin 43 which extends throughthe supporting ring 15 to frictionally engage said groove 4% and preventcarrier 4t) from being accidentally lifted or otherwise displaced fromthe supporting ring 15, as well as to provide an adjustable tension uponsaid carrier 40 to retain it in adjusted position after rotationthereof.

Rotation of carrier 40 will cause the retaining member 24 to rotatetherewith due to the connecting guide pins 41 and thus angularlyposition the assembled marking pins 26, 27 and28. In order to indicatethe angular position of said marking pins, degree markings or the like44 are provided upon the inwardly tapering portion 45 of the carrier 4%)which are adapted to be aligned with an indicating mark '46 providedupon the upper edge of a plate 47 which is secured to the supportingring 15 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Operation of the lens marking mechanism 14 is accomplished by means ofan outwardly extending handle or the like 48 integrally formed upon apivotally mounted yoke 49 having two diametrically opposed pivot pins 59threadedly secured therein. Each of said pivot pins 59 is furtherprovided with reduced shouldered portions 51 which pivotally engageguide blocks 52 adapted to slidingly fit within an annular channel 53provided upon the downwardly extending portion of the retaining member24. t

The inwardly extending portion of the yoke49is pivotally secured toadownwardly extending lug 54, Fig. 2, formed uponfthe supporting bracket13, by means of studs or the like 55 an'd i'n order to yi'eldably retainsaid yoke 49 and retaining member 24 assembly upwardly and in contactwith the supporting ring 15 when not in use, theupper portion of aspring 56 is positioned within a vertically extending 'bore 57 providedin said supporting ring 15 and bracket18 and is attached to a shoulderedretaining member 58 whereas the lower end of said spring 56 ispositioned within asimilar bore 59 provided in the yoke 49 and isattached to a second shouldered retaining member 60.

Downward movement of the handle 48 will cause the yoke 49 to pivotaboutstuds 55 and extend the spring 56 at which time the retainingmember 24 is carried downwardly with said yoke 49 due to its connectedrelation therewith. Uponrelease of handle 48 the tension provided byspring 56will then cause said yoke 49 and retaining member 24 assemblyto again return to its initial raised position.

It will be noted i'n Fig. 2 that the downward movement of theretainingmember 24, as shown by dot-dash lines, causes guide pins 41carried by said retaining member 24 to slide withinthe openings 42thereby causing the marking pins 26,27and28 to be moved along a verticalaxis while yoke 49 is pivoted. about studs 55.

An inkwell' '6l, Fig. 1, is mounted upon the base of the device by meansof a suitable bracket or the like 62 and is providedwitha rotatableinking pad 63. The pad 63 is mounted upon a longit'udinally extendingshaft 64 which is r'otatably supported at'each end of said inkwell. Oneend of the "shaft hasnprovided thereon, a knurled knob 65 for manualrotation of 'the vpad 63an'd the op posed end thereof is provided with aroller 66 so positioned as tobeengagedby a track or the like 67integrally 'formeduponthe yoke '49, Figs. 1 and 2.

Clockwise rotation of the head 19, so as to cause said head 19 to assumethe position shown in Fig. 1, will cause the track 67 to contact theroller 66 and rotate the pad 63 within the inkwell: 61-. By suchrotation a supply of ink, which would be provided in the bottom of thewell 61, will be distributed over the surface of said pad 63 andcontinued clockwise rotation of the head 19 will further cause themarking pins '26, 27 and .28, being in their uppermost position, tolightly contact the pad 63 thereby having a supply of ink deposited'uponthe lower ends thereof.

The above mentioned rotation of the head 19 is continued until the lensmarking mechanism 14 is accurately aligned over a lens blank which inturn is positioned at a predetermined location upon the lens supportingtable 21, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, whereupon the handle is depressedand therebycauses themarking pins 26, 27 and 28 to contact and depositan ink spot upon the surface of said lens blank. The spots made by thepins 26, however, are so closely related as to produce an effectivelycontinuous line.

It will be noted that in the case where the convex surface of alensblank 23 is to bermarked, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the centermostmarking pin 28 which is to mark the optical center of said lens blankwill contact the surface first and be forced upwardly against thepressure pad 37 and that each successive pair of marking pins which aredisposed at equal radial distances from said center pin 28 will in turnbe caused to contact said lens surface and be likewise forced upwardlyuntil all have contacted said surface and deposited their respectivesupplies of marking fluid thereon so as to provide reference markingssubstantially of the type shown in Figs. 7 and S and described above.If, however, the concave side of a lens blank were to be marked, theoutermost of said marking pins would contact the lens blank surfacefirst and the centermost marking pin 28 would contact said surface lastto cause markings to be applied thereto which would be identical innature to the above, and it is to be pointed out that the pressure pad37 is so constructed as to yieldably retain the marking pins in adownwardly direction while allowing individual vertical adjustment ofsaid marking pins in conformity with the contour of the lens surface tobe marked.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that simple, efiicientand economical means have been provided for accomplishing all theobjects and advantages of the invention. However, it will be understoodthat various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms anddetails of the embodiment illustrated may be made by those skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a rotatable supportingmember having diametrically aligned guideways therein, one of saidguideways being disposed substantially intermediate of and spaced fromthe remaining guideways, a single elongated marking pin in saidintermediate guideway and having one of its ends extending outwardly ofsaid supporting member and being longitudinally movable along an axissubstantially coincident with the axis of rotation of said supportingmember, a group of relatively thin elongated marking pins in sidesurface engaging relation with each other mounted in each of saidremaining guideways, each of said pins having one of its ends extendingoutwardly of said supporting member and being individuallylongitudinally movable along a path parallel to the path of movement ofsaid single marking pin, each of said marking pins having a slightlyreduced pointedly shaped outer end for receiving a supply of markingfluid to be deposited thereby in the form of a dot upon the surface of alens blank or the like to be marked, stop means adjacent the opposed endof each of said marking pins for restricting the longitudinal movementthereof in an outward direction and resilient means carried by saidsupporting memher and in engagement with said opposed ends of saidelongated marking pins to yieldably permit the outer ends of each ofsaid marking pins to be individually longitudinally adjusted so as tocause the outer ends of each of said groups of pins and said center pinto assume the contoured shape of a lens blank surface curvature whensaid outer ends are positioned in contact with said lens blank surfacewhereby each of said groups of marking pins will form a dash-like linecomposed of contiguously related dots and said centermost marking pinwill form a single dot intermediate and spaced from said dash-like lineson said lens blank.

2, in a device of the character described, the combination of arotatable supporting member movable along its axis of rotation andelongated individually adjustable marking members carried by saidsupporting member, said supporting member having a central axiallyaligned guideway therein with a pair of elongated rectangularly shapedguideways spaced one at each side of said central guideway anddiametrically aligned therewith, one of said marking members beingpositioned for longitudinal movement in said central guideway along theaxis of rotation of said supporting member, other elongated relativelythin rectangularly shaped marking members positioned in side surfaceengaging relation with each other in each of said spaced rectangularlyshaped guideways, each of said rcctangularly shaped marking membersbeing individually longitudinally movable in a direction parallel to theaxis of rotation of said supporting member, said central marking memberand rectangularly shaped marking members each having one of their endsextending outwardly of said supporting member and said outer ends beingreduced in size and pointedly shaped to receive a marking fluid thereonfor the purpose of each depositing said marking fluid in the form of adot upon the surface of a lens blank to be marked, stop means adjacentthe inner ends of said marking members for limiting the outwardlydirected movement of said members and resilient means carried by saidsupporting member and in engagement with said inner ends of each of themarking members to yieldingly permit the outer ends of said markingmembers to individually assume the contoured shape of said lens blanksurface when said marking members are moved into engaging relationtherewith, means for adjustably rotating said supporting member aboutthe longitudinal axis of said central marking member for causing saidrectangularly shaped marking members to assume a desired angular rotatedposition relative to said lens blank surface and means for moving saidsupporting member along said longitudinal axis to cause said centralmarking member and said rectangular marking members to engage said lensblank surface and each deposits thereon its respective supply of markingfluid in the form of a central dot and a pair of dash-like linescomposed of contiguously related dots spaced from and axially alignedwith said central dot.

3. A device of the character described comprising a rotatable supportingmember having a central elongated marking pin and a pair of spacedgroups of elongated relatively thin fiat sided marking pins in sidesurface engaging relation with each other, one of said groups of markingpins being disposed in spaced relation with and at each side of saidcentral pin and diametrically aligned therewith, said marking pins beingpositioned to extend outwardly through said supporting member andrestricted to be individually movable along a path substantially in linewith their longitudinal dimension, stop means adjacent the inner ends ofsaid marking pins for limiting the outwardly directed movement thereof,means for ad justably rotating said supporting member and spaced groupsof marking pins about the axis of said central marking pin to cause saidspaced groups of marking pins to assume a desired angularly rotatedposition relative to a side surface of a lens blank to be marked, theouter ends of said marking pins each being reduced in size and pointedlyshaped to receive an individual supply of marking fluid thereon andmeans for moving said supporting member along the axis of said centralpin to cause said outer ends of the marking pins to engage the surfaceof the lens blank and be automatically individually moved along theirlongitudinal axes so as to assume the contour shape of said surface andto each deposit their respective supply of marking fluid on said surfacein the form of a central dot and a pair of dash-like lines composed ofcontiguously related dots axially aligned with the central dot wherebysaid central dot will indicate the optical center of a lens blank beingmarked and said dash-like lines will represent a desired axis markingwhen said lens blank is properly aligned with said supporting member.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNETED STATES PATENTS425,495 Demarest Apr. 15, 1890 1,026,124 Richards May 14, 1912 1,255,127Baukat Feb. 5, 1918 2,146,599 Smith Feb. 7, 1939 2,680,296 CronbergerJune 8, 1954 2,712,180 Lueck July 5, 1955

